I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to retractable-roof devices and to vehicles equipped with such devices. More particularly, it relates to retractable-roof devices capable of being stored in a part of a vehicle trunk.
II. Description of Related Art
Such structures and associated mechanisms are described and illustrated in German Patents 4445580 and 4445944. The first patent describes a rigid roof that can be retracted into part of the trunk, this roof being articulated by a quadrilateral articulation system. The second patent describes a trunk door whose mechanism permits opening toward the front for storage of luggage and opening toward the rear to permit the passage of a rigid roof.
The structures illustrated in these patents suffer from several disadvantages, such as the number of parts necessary, which adds restrictive weight and cost and which does not permit reliable repeatability of assembly. The large number of parts used in the different rod assemblies also suffers from a disadvantage in terms of system stability. In addition, these patents do not take into account the problems posed by management of the rear panel during movement of the roof structure or the problems of interaction between the vehicle body and the arms of mechanisms passing through this body.